Carton with carrier handle



Aug. 27, 1963 J. A. RING CARTON WITH CARRIER HANDLE Filed Sept. 8, 1960 INVENTOR JcE/fz'rg,

BY tik-4W ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,101,886 CARTON WITH CARRIER HANDLE Jack A. Ring, San Leandro, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Flintkote Company, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Sept. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 54,771 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-52) This invention relates to cartons, and particularly to an improved form of paperboard carton provided with a handle for enabling the carton to be carried.

Paperboard cartons for canned goods and other articles have, in recent years, been provided with carrying handles of various forms.

Carrying Ihandles heretofore proposed in cartons of this type have for the most part been either in the form of strap members requiring eXtra stock to be utilized as part of the blank from which the carton is made, or in the `form of a separately formed strap member secured by various means to the carton.

It has also been heretofore proposed to form a carrying handle, from the glued overlapping portions of the paperboard blank which constitute the top wall of the carton, by providing weakened lines of separation along those portions, thereby enabling a narrow section of those portions to be pulled upwardly above the top of the carton, to serve as the carrying handle,

rThe carrying handles as heretofore provided Iin paperboard cartons, thus entail the use of eXtra stock, or additional steps of manufacture, or the use of paperboard of substantial strength, or a combination of these.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a carton which may be made of relatively light paperboard, and which is provided with a self-contained carrying handle which will be free of the above-mentioned objections attending the forms of carrying handles heretofore proposed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carton of the character referred to, wherein the carrying handle is in the for-rn of a single thickness of the paperboard from which the carton is formed, `and which will nevertheless be sufficiently strong to serve as the carrying handle for cartons containing relatively heavy articles.

The `foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearly set fonth in the following specilication, reference being made to the accompanying drawings.

ln the drawings:

FIG. yl is a plan view of a carton blank embodying the invention, prior to the folding of the blank into the form in which it may be shipped by the manufacturer;

FlG. 2 is a view in perspective, showing the blank of FIG. 1 after it Ihas been folded and glued into tubular form for shipment;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the carton as it appears when set up, lled and closed;

FIG. 4 is a view in cross-section, taken vertically along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in cross-section, taken along line r5 5 of FIG. 4; and

yFIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view, similar to FIG. l, illustrating a modification of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates, diagrammatically, a blank for forming a carton provided with a carrying handle in accordance with the invention.

The blank, indicated generally by numeral 1l), is of rectangular outline and comprises a bottom wall panel 12 and a pair of side wall panels 13 and 14, hinged thereto along parallel yfold or score lines 15 and 16, respectively. Inwardly foldable flaps 18 and 19 are connected with the bottom -wall panel 12 along transverse hinge or ICC score lines 22 and 23, parallel to one another. Likewise, inwardly foldable ila-ps 26 and 27 are connected to the side wall panel 13 along the hinge lines 22 and 23, respectively, and inwardly foldable flaps 28 and 29 are connected to side wall panel 14 along the hinge lines 22 and 23, respectively.

Terminal panels 30 and 32 of the blank 10 are connected, respectively, by hinge or score lines 31 and 33 to the side wall panels 13 and 14. Inwardly .foldable flaps 34 and 35 are connected to panel .30 along the score lines 22 and 23, respectively. Likewise, inwardly -foldable flaps 36 and 37 are connected to the panel 32 along the score lines 22 and 23, respectively.

As will be readily understood, when the blank thus formed is folded along transverse score lines `15 and 33 (or 16 and 31) so that the terminal panel 32 partially overlaps the terminal panel 3l), and the overlapping portions are glued to one another, the blank will be in the collapsed or flat tubular form in which it is shipped by the manufacturer to the user.

The tubular form of the blank may be set up into its carton form by folding and gluing one of the sets of opposing pairs of aps, in accordance with the conventional practice. The carton may then be lled, and the other set of opposed pairs of flaps folded and glued to close and seal the carton.

In order lto provide the carton with a carrying handle in accordance with the invention, the end panel 32, which partially overlaps the opposite end panel 30 in the folded or set-up condition of the carton to constitute the top wall thereof, is provided with a relatively narrow, elongated slot 4G, disposed preferably parallel to the terminal edge 411 of the blank, and extending entirely across panel 32 and a short distance beyond fold lines 22 and 23, into the flaps 36, 37.

In accordance with the invention, the area of the end panel 32 and its llaps 36, 37, bounded by the terminal edge l41 of the blank, the outer edge 42 and the ends v46 of the slot 46", is left unglued to the corresponding overlapped area of the end panel 3G and its flaps 34, 35, when the blank of FIG. l is folded and glued into the tubular form shown in FIG, 2. The thus bounded unglued area 44 of panel 3d provides the carrying handle of the carton, as will be more fully explained below.

'To that end, the glue, indicated by the stippling 45 in FIG. l, is applied in such manner as to preclude its being deposited upon the area which corresponds to the surface 'area yof the handle portion 44. This may conveniently be accomplished by first applying to end panel 30` and flaps y34, 35, along the areas thereof corresponding .to area 44,

a film of ink of the type not wetted by or which is not receptive of the glue applied to the remaining areas of panel 30 and flaps 34, 35, to be overlapped by panel 32 and aps 36, 37. Such [glue-rejecting inks are well known in the art for use in preventing glue from adhering to `selected areas of paperboard or the like.

In consequence of the non-gluing of the handle portion 44 to the overlapped portion of end panel 30 and aps 34, 35 when the blank is folded and glued in accordance with customary practise, the handle por-tion 44 will remain free to be lifted away from the underlying end panel 30. When the :carton has been erected, ii-lled, closed and sealed, :and is positioned as illustrated in FIG. 3, a person may -lift tand carry the carton by means of the Lhandle 44, simply by inserting the fingers beneath the free, outer edge of handle 44 and pulling upwardly thereon, thereby suiciently distorting the unglued portion 44 to cause it to bow upwardly so as to serve as the carrying handle for the `cart-on. This position of handle -44 is best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5 lof the drawings.

-Itn order to impart yadequate strength to the handle 44 constructed as above described, a relatively narrow rein- Patented Aug. 27, 1963 `forcing tape 47, is applied to `one of its surfaces. This reinforcement is preferably provided by so-ealled rayon tape, consisting of adhered adjoining strands or rovings of rayon. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the tape 47 is applied to the bottom surface of the handle 44, the tape extending fully across the width of panel 32 and flaps 36, 37. Iin the modification `of the invention illustrated in FIG. 6, the reinforcing tape, indicated at 47a, is applied to the outer surface of the panel 32 and its flaps 36, 37, so as to be disposed on the outer surface of the handle in the erected carton.

What I claim is:

A paperboard carton, comprising a bottorn wall, a pair of opposed side walls hinged at opposite sides of said bottom wall, inwardly folded end flaps hinged to opposite ends of said bottom wall and to opposite ends of said side wal-ls, an end panel hinged to each of said side walls at the end thereof opposite said bottom wall, said end panels being partially overlapped and forming the top Wall of the carton, inwardly folded flaps hinged at opposite ends of yeach of said end panels, the overlapping one of said end panels having a relatively narrow elongated slot extending lengthwise of said panel, said overlapping end panel and its folded flaps being glued to `the overlapped end panel and its folded flaps throughout their mutually confronting surfaces except along the areas thereof bounded substantially by (l) the end edges of said slot, (2) the outermost edge of said :overlapping end panel and (3) the outer elongated edge of said slot, said unglued areas -of the overlapping yend panel 4being free to be lifted upwardly from the confronting surface of the overlapped panel to provide Va carrying handle for the carton extending from said slot toward the hinged end of said overlapped end panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,124,955 Quagliotti July 26, 1938 2,719,804 Carlson Oct. 4, 1955 2,842,304 Ringler July 8, 1958 

